This chapter introduces the world of Christians — who came from both the Greek religious environment (Gentile Christians) and Judaism (Jewish Christians) — but also from the group of pagans who were ...
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This chapter introduces the world of Christians — who came from both the Greek religious environment (Gentile Christians) and Judaism (Jewish Christians) — but also from the group of pagans who were ready to convert to Judaism (the so-called ‘God-fearers’). Emphasizing the multiplicity of backgrounds, the chapter aims at warning the reader that conclusions concerning early Christianity and its relation to animal sacrifice cannot be definite, especially as regards the Christians who lived in Jerusalem that is next to the Temple, before AD 70.Less

A Bridge Linking Greek Religion and Judaism to Christianity

Maria‐Zoe Petropoulou

Published in print: 2008-03-06

This chapter introduces the world of Christians — who came from both the Greek religious environment (Gentile Christians) and Judaism (Jewish Christians) — but also from the group of pagans who were ready to convert to Judaism (the so-called ‘God-fearers’). Emphasizing the multiplicity of backgrounds, the chapter aims at warning the reader that conclusions concerning early Christianity and its relation to animal sacrifice cannot be definite, especially as regards the Christians who lived in Jerusalem that is next to the Temple, before AD 70.

For more than a century, scholars of ancient Judaism and early Christianity have assumed that ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure, and that this alleged principle of Gentile ritual ...
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For more than a century, scholars of ancient Judaism and early Christianity have assumed that ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure, and that this alleged principle of Gentile ritual impurity was the basis for a strict and burdensome policy of separation between Jews and non‐Jews. The present volume corrects decades of erroneous scholarship on the question of Gentile ritual impurity and the history of Jewish perceptions of Gentiles in antiquity. Although purity and impurity were intimately connected with questions of identity and otherness in ancient Jewish culture, the terms “pure” and “impure” were employed in various ways by different groups of Jews to describe and inscribe sociocultural boundaries between Jews and Gentiles. Close analysis of biblical, Second Temple, New Testament, patristic, and rabbinic sources, shows that at least four distinct modes of impurity were associated with Gentiles by different groups – ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity, and carnal impurity. This unexpected diversity of ancient Jewish views of Gentile impurity is tied to widely differing definitions of Jewish group identity and the access of Gentiles to that identity. Consequently, ancient Jews exhibited widely varying attitudes towards intermarriage and conversion – the two processes by which group boundaries might be penetrated. These diverse views of the permeability of the Jewish–Gentile boundary through intermarriage or conversion, deriving in turn from diverse conceptions of Gentile impurity and Jewish identity, contributed to the rise of sectarianism in Second Temple Judaism, and to the separation of the early church from what would later become rabbinic Judaism.Less

Gentile Impurities and Jewish Identities : Intermarriage and Conversion from the Bible to the Talmud

Christine E. Hayes

Published in print: 2002-12-12

For more than a century, scholars of ancient Judaism and early Christianity have assumed that ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure, and that this alleged principle of Gentile ritual impurity was the basis for a strict and burdensome policy of separation between Jews and non‐Jews. The present volume corrects decades of erroneous scholarship on the question of Gentile ritual impurity and the history of Jewish perceptions of Gentiles in antiquity. Although purity and impurity were intimately connected with questions of identity and otherness in ancient Jewish culture, the terms “pure” and “impure” were employed in various ways by different groups of Jews to describe and inscribe sociocultural boundaries between Jews and Gentiles. Close analysis of biblical, Second Temple, New Testament, patristic, and rabbinic sources, shows that at least four distinct modes of impurity were associated with Gentiles by different groups – ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity, and carnal impurity. This unexpected diversity of ancient Jewish views of Gentile impurity is tied to widely differing definitions of Jewish group identity and the access of Gentiles to that identity. Consequently, ancient Jews exhibited widely varying attitudes towards intermarriage and conversion – the two processes by which group boundaries might be penetrated. These diverse views of the permeability of the Jewish–Gentile boundary through intermarriage or conversion, deriving in turn from diverse conceptions of Gentile impurity and Jewish identity, contributed to the rise of sectarianism in Second Temple Judaism, and to the separation of the early church from what would later become rabbinic Judaism.

Throughout the Christian era, Paul has stood at the center of controversy, accused of being the father of Christian anti-Semitism. This book challenges this entrenched view of Paul, arguing ...
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Throughout the Christian era, Paul has stood at the center of controversy, accused of being the father of Christian anti-Semitism. This book challenges this entrenched view of Paul, arguing persuasively that Paul's words have been taken out of their original context, distorted, and generally misconstrued. Using Paul's own writings, the book sets forth a controversial interpretation of the apostle's teaching as he takes us in search of the “real” Paul. Through an analysis of Paul's letters to the Galatians and the Romans, he provides illuminating answers to the key questions: Did Paul repudiate the Law of Moses? Did he believe that Jews had been rejected by God and replaced as His chosen people by Gentiles? Did he consider circumcision to be necessary for salvation? And did he expect Jews to find salvation through Jesus? The book tells us that Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles, not the Jews. His most vehement arguments were directed not against Judaism but against competing apostles in the Jesus movement who demanded that Gentiles be circumcised and conform to Jewish law in order to be saved. Moreover, Paul relied on rhetorical devices that were familiar to his intended audience but opaque to later readers of the letters. As a result, his message has been misunderstood by succeeding generations.Less

Reinventing Paul

John G. Gager

Published in print: 2002-05-16

Throughout the Christian era, Paul has stood at the center of controversy, accused of being the father of Christian anti-Semitism. This book challenges this entrenched view of Paul, arguing persuasively that Paul's words have been taken out of their original context, distorted, and generally misconstrued. Using Paul's own writings, the book sets forth a controversial interpretation of the apostle's teaching as he takes us in search of the “real” Paul. Through an analysis of Paul's letters to the Galatians and the Romans, he provides illuminating answers to the key questions: Did Paul repudiate the Law of Moses? Did he believe that Jews had been rejected by God and replaced as His chosen people by Gentiles? Did he consider circumcision to be necessary for salvation? And did he expect Jews to find salvation through Jesus? The book tells us that Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles, not the Jews. His most vehement arguments were directed not against Judaism but against competing apostles in the Jesus movement who demanded that Gentiles be circumcised and conform to Jewish law in order to be saved. Moreover, Paul relied on rhetorical devices that were familiar to his intended audience but opaque to later readers of the letters. As a result, his message has been misunderstood by succeeding generations.

The book describes the Christian movement from New Testament times and the Gentile mission to developments in the Roman Empire. It expounds Christianity's eastward expansion and seminal interaction ...
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The book describes the Christian movement from New Testament times and the Gentile mission to developments in the Roman Empire. It expounds Christianity's eastward expansion and seminal interaction with Islam whose resistance encouraged Europe to embark on its maritime expansion to the East and the New World. Christianity followed Europe into the non‐Christian world, and became identified with the rising mercantilism and colonial empires. Missions gained—and lost—momentum by association with the slave trade and with related systems of native exploitation, acquiring range and imperial protection, for example, but also by provoking local resistance. Conversely, the first mass conversion of New World Africans provided impetus for the missionary drive into Africa and Asia, culminating in the 20th-century post‐Western awakening. Nineteenth-century colonial empires masked the true potential of Christianity's indigenous appeal, though the adoption of vernacular Bible translation appealed to reserves of local initiative and persisted vigorously into the post‐colonial phase. The book follows the theme to post‐Maoist China and in developments in the global Pentecostal/Charismatic movement. All these manifestations paint the picture of World Christianity as a critical dynamic force in the 21st century.Less

Disciples of All Nations : Pillars of World Christianity

Lamin O. Sanneh

Published in print: 2008-01-01

The book describes the Christian movement from New Testament times and the Gentile mission to developments in the Roman Empire. It expounds Christianity's eastward expansion and seminal interaction with Islam whose resistance encouraged Europe to embark on its maritime expansion to the East and the New World. Christianity followed Europe into the non‐Christian world, and became identified with the rising mercantilism and colonial empires. Missions gained—and lost—momentum by association with the slave trade and with related systems of native exploitation, acquiring range and imperial protection, for example, but also by provoking local resistance. Conversely, the first mass conversion of New World Africans provided impetus for the missionary drive into Africa and Asia, culminating in the 20th-century post‐Western awakening. Nineteenth-century colonial empires masked the true potential of Christianity's indigenous appeal, though the adoption of vernacular Bible translation appealed to reserves of local initiative and persisted vigorously into the post‐colonial phase. The book follows the theme to post‐Maoist China and in developments in the global Pentecostal/Charismatic movement. All these manifestations paint the picture of World Christianity as a critical dynamic force in the 21st century.

This chapter explores the New Testament Gentile church, and examines the roles of Peter and Paul in the religion's transformation into its Greek‐speaking phase. Given the dual Jewish‐Gentile heritage ...
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This chapter explores the New Testament Gentile church, and examines the roles of Peter and Paul in the religion's transformation into its Greek‐speaking phase. Given the dual Jewish‐Gentile heritage of Christianity, the foundation was laid for the religion's intercultural world errand. The chapter considers the implications of the disciples abandoning Jerusalem and embracing centers of Greek life, thus freeing the Gospel from the constraints of a founding culture. Diverse peoples and cultures embraced Christianity, adapting it to reflect local priorities. The chapter argues that the Jewish background of Christianity, in particular, the Jewish monotheist message and its ethical system, survived into the Gentile phase, and resulted in uniting exotic and disparate religious materials into a thriving religious movement.Less

Lamin Sanneh

Published in print: 2008-01-01

This chapter explores the New Testament Gentile church, and examines the roles of Peter and Paul in the religion's transformation into its Greek‐speaking phase. Given the dual Jewish‐Gentile heritage of Christianity, the foundation was laid for the religion's intercultural world errand. The chapter considers the implications of the disciples abandoning Jerusalem and embracing centers of Greek life, thus freeing the Gospel from the constraints of a founding culture. Diverse peoples and cultures embraced Christianity, adapting it to reflect local priorities. The chapter argues that the Jewish background of Christianity, in particular, the Jewish monotheist message and its ethical system, survived into the Gentile phase, and resulted in uniting exotic and disparate religious materials into a thriving religious movement.

Synopsis: This chapter examines Roman imperial pressure and the persecution that triggered wide‐ranging dispersion and movement in Christianity. Persecution induced habits of vigilance, and ascetic ...
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Synopsis: This chapter examines Roman imperial pressure and the persecution that triggered wide‐ranging dispersion and movement in Christianity. Persecution induced habits of vigilance, and ascetic witness against wealth and power. Tertullian (d c.240) describes the refining effects of persecution and repression on Christian spiritual life and new forms of Christian social organization. Christians pioneered voluntary and philanthropic ethics, and promoted mutual support and encouragement. As a vernacular movement Christianity spread to Scotland, northern England, and Iceland. Semi‐urban Arabs of the trade routes converted, though Christianity failed to take root in the Arab heartland proper. Augustine assessed the historical challenge facing Christianity after the fall of the empire, and his achievement, the chapter argues, transformed classical historiography from its deterministic pessimism into a choice‐driven, morally‐transparent enterprise. The chapter contends that a corresponding Augustinian revolution in thought would help place the searchlight on provincial diversity and cultural variety of rising World Christianity.Less

Whither Christianity? : A Study in Origin, Thought, and Action

Lamin Sanneh

Published in print: 2008-01-01

Synopsis: This chapter examines Roman imperial pressure and the persecution that triggered wide‐ranging dispersion and movement in Christianity. Persecution induced habits of vigilance, and ascetic witness against wealth and power. Tertullian (d c.240) describes the refining effects of persecution and repression on Christian spiritual life and new forms of Christian social organization. Christians pioneered voluntary and philanthropic ethics, and promoted mutual support and encouragement. As a vernacular movement Christianity spread to Scotland, northern England, and Iceland. Semi‐urban Arabs of the trade routes converted, though Christianity failed to take root in the Arab heartland proper. Augustine assessed the historical challenge facing Christianity after the fall of the empire, and his achievement, the chapter argues, transformed classical historiography from its deterministic pessimism into a choice‐driven, morally‐transparent enterprise. The chapter contends that a corresponding Augustinian revolution in thought would help place the searchlight on provincial diversity and cultural variety of rising World Christianity.

Synopsis: The chapter examines Christianity's formative Western assimilation as a prelude to its overseas post‐Western development. The chapter turns to Roland Allen and the stirrings in China to ...
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Synopsis: The chapter examines Christianity's formative Western assimilation as a prelude to its overseas post‐Western development. The chapter turns to Roland Allen and the stirrings in China to disentangle Western civilization from Christian civilization, and to show how cultural assimilation falls short of radical conversion. The material, technical infrastructure of mission hindered access in hinterland regions, and impeded the training of local leaders. The chapter recalls the Gentile basis of affirming non‐Western cultures and values. The chapter shifts to Vincent Donovan and the Catholic response to Allen. Donovan agrees with Allen, and calls for changes in Catholic missionary practice, restating the missionary mandate by redefining creed and church. The chapter presents outlines of the Maasai African Creed as an example of the indigenous discovery of the Gospel, showing how that results in Christianity being rediscovered. That is the background of the worldwide resurgence.Less

Civilization and the Limits of Mission : Critical Pillar

Lamin Sanneh

Published in print: 2008-01-01

Synopsis: The chapter examines Christianity's formative Western assimilation as a prelude to its overseas post‐Western development. The chapter turns to Roland Allen and the stirrings in China to disentangle Western civilization from Christian civilization, and to show how cultural assimilation falls short of radical conversion. The material, technical infrastructure of mission hindered access in hinterland regions, and impeded the training of local leaders. The chapter recalls the Gentile basis of affirming non‐Western cultures and values. The chapter shifts to Vincent Donovan and the Catholic response to Allen. Donovan agrees with Allen, and calls for changes in Catholic missionary practice, restating the missionary mandate by redefining creed and church. The chapter presents outlines of the Maasai African Creed as an example of the indigenous discovery of the Gospel, showing how that results in Christianity being rediscovered. That is the background of the worldwide resurgence.

This chapter addresses a problem that must have plagued the rabbis a great deal: the undeniable fact that the Hebrew Bible uses various names for God, most prominent among them Elohim and the ...
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This chapter addresses a problem that must have plagued the rabbis a great deal: the undeniable fact that the Hebrew Bible uses various names for God, most prominent among them Elohim and the tetragrammaton YHWH. Both names attracted the attention and curiosity of Gentiles, the latter because of the mystery surrounding it—it was originally used only by the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies of the Temple, and its proper pronunciation was deemed lost—and the former because it is grammatically a plural and hence could easily give rise to the idea that the Jews worshiped not just one God but several gods. The “heretics” apparently knew enough Hebrew to seize the opportunity and insinuate that the Jews were no different in this regard than the pagans and indeed accepted the notion of a pantheon of various gods.Less

Different Names of God

Peter Schäfer

Published in print: 2012-02-26

This chapter addresses a problem that must have plagued the rabbis a great deal: the undeniable fact that the Hebrew Bible uses various names for God, most prominent among them Elohim and the tetragrammaton YHWH. Both names attracted the attention and curiosity of Gentiles, the latter because of the mystery surrounding it—it was originally used only by the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies of the Temple, and its proper pronunciation was deemed lost—and the former because it is grammatically a plural and hence could easily give rise to the idea that the Jews worshiped not just one God but several gods. The “heretics” apparently knew enough Hebrew to seize the opportunity and insinuate that the Jews were no different in this regard than the pagans and indeed accepted the notion of a pantheon of various gods.

This chapter situates the book's argument within a wider intellectual horizon—the relation between knowledge and concrete patterns of life—and within the history of scholarly interpretation of the ...
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This chapter situates the book's argument within a wider intellectual horizon—the relation between knowledge and concrete patterns of life—and within the history of scholarly interpretation of the book of Acts. The claim is that the dominant view of Acts' political vision has failed to deal with more basic theological ingredients of the text that determine what politics means in Acts, and that attending to the practical theology of Acts requires a radical reassessment of the political contour of this ancient text. Chapter 1 also explains the argumentative sequence of the book as the unfolding of a profound tension that animates the whole of Acts: the Christians spell cultural collapse (Chapter 2), but claim to be innocent of sedition/treason (Chapter 3); this political posture is particular to the Christians and arises from core practices that constitute a different way of reading reality (Chapter 4).Less

Reading Acts

C. Kavin Rowe

Published in print: 2010-01-01

This chapter situates the book's argument within a wider intellectual horizon—the relation between knowledge and concrete patterns of life—and within the history of scholarly interpretation of the book of Acts. The claim is that the dominant view of Acts' political vision has failed to deal with more basic theological ingredients of the text that determine what politics means in Acts, and that attending to the practical theology of Acts requires a radical reassessment of the political contour of this ancient text. Chapter 1 also explains the argumentative sequence of the book as the unfolding of a profound tension that animates the whole of Acts: the Christians spell cultural collapse (Chapter 2), but claim to be innocent of sedition/treason (Chapter 3); this political posture is particular to the Christians and arises from core practices that constitute a different way of reading reality (Chapter 4).

The chapter discusses animal sacrifice in the Jerusalem Temple based on sources from the late Second Temple period, that is Philo and Josephus, and of the Mishnah. Animal sacrifice shaped Philo's ...
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The chapter discusses animal sacrifice in the Jerusalem Temple based on sources from the late Second Temple period, that is Philo and Josephus, and of the Mishnah. Animal sacrifice shaped Philo's intellectual system to a great extent, while his work — full of sacrificial allegories — might echo Diaspora Jews (of an unknown proportion) who respected the practical aspect of Jewish animal sacrifice without feeling at odds with an allegorical interpretation of it. On the basis of the work of Josephus and the mishnaic rules, one can acquire glances at issues like the ritual rhythm at the Temple, its relation to the Romans, the blurred boundaries between secular and religious slaughter, the variety of non-Biblical rules about modes of slaughter, and the co-existence with Gentiles, but also the aspirations after AD 70.Less

Jewish Animal Sacrifice in the Period 100 bc–ad 200

Maria‐Zoe Petropoulou

Published in print: 2008-03-06

The chapter discusses animal sacrifice in the Jerusalem Temple based on sources from the late Second Temple period, that is Philo and Josephus, and of the Mishnah. Animal sacrifice shaped Philo's intellectual system to a great extent, while his work — full of sacrificial allegories — might echo Diaspora Jews (of an unknown proportion) who respected the practical aspect of Jewish animal sacrifice without feeling at odds with an allegorical interpretation of it. On the basis of the work of Josephus and the mishnaic rules, one can acquire glances at issues like the ritual rhythm at the Temple, its relation to the Romans, the blurred boundaries between secular and religious slaughter, the variety of non-Biblical rules about modes of slaughter, and the co-existence with Gentiles, but also the aspirations after AD 70.

The ethnic identity of ancient Israelites was constructed in opposition to Gentile, or alien, “others” and was expressed in terms of purity and impurity. Different constructions of Jewish identity ...
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The ethnic identity of ancient Israelites was constructed in opposition to Gentile, or alien, “others” and was expressed in terms of purity and impurity. Different constructions of Jewish identity entailed different characterizations of aliens and different views on the degree to which Gentiles might acquire Israelite identity. Previous scholarship, which assumes that all ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure and thus off‐limits, is reviewed and critiqued. There are, in fact, several distinct modes of impurity (ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity) employed by various groups of ancient Jews, and the boundary between pure Israelite and impure alien was more or less permeable depending on the mode of impurity attributed to the alien. These different assessments of the permeability of the boundary between Jews and Gentiles are connected with widely different attitudes to the postexilic phenomena of conversion and intermarriage, and contributed to the sectarianism that characterized Second Temple Judaism as well as the eventual separation of Christianity from rabbinic Judaism.Less

Introduction

Christine E. Hayes

Published in print: 2002-12-12

The ethnic identity of ancient Israelites was constructed in opposition to Gentile, or alien, “others” and was expressed in terms of purity and impurity. Different constructions of Jewish identity entailed different characterizations of aliens and different views on the degree to which Gentiles might acquire Israelite identity. Previous scholarship, which assumes that all ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure and thus off‐limits, is reviewed and critiqued. There are, in fact, several distinct modes of impurity (ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity) employed by various groups of ancient Jews, and the boundary between pure Israelite and impure alien was more or less permeable depending on the mode of impurity attributed to the alien. These different assessments of the permeability of the boundary between Jews and Gentiles are connected with widely different attitudes to the postexilic phenomena of conversion and intermarriage, and contributed to the sectarianism that characterized Second Temple Judaism as well as the eventual separation of Christianity from rabbinic Judaism.

Before moving to his maintenance base at Ephesus, Paul reported to Antioch, where he became embroiled in a controversy regarding the conditions on which Gentiles could become Christians. A meeting in ...
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Before moving to his maintenance base at Ephesus, Paul reported to Antioch, where he became embroiled in a controversy regarding the conditions on which Gentiles could become Christians. A meeting in Jerusalem voted in Paul’s favour because of James’ appreciation of the politics of anti-semitism. Peter’s defection in Antioch forced Paul to rethink his position on (1) the authority of his mission, and (2) the place of the Law in Christian communities. He became radically antinomian, and this had a significant impact on his moral teaching.Less

Antioch and Jerusalem

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor

Published in print: 2004-03-18

Before moving to his maintenance base at Ephesus, Paul reported to Antioch, where he became embroiled in a controversy regarding the conditions on which Gentiles could become Christians. A meeting in Jerusalem voted in Paul’s favour because of James’ appreciation of the politics of anti-semitism. Peter’s defection in Antioch forced Paul to rethink his position on (1) the authority of his mission, and (2) the place of the Law in Christian communities. He became radically antinomian, and this had a significant impact on his moral teaching.

The greatest Christian split of all has been that between East and West, between Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, a rift that is still apparent today. This book provides a balanced account of the ...
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The greatest Christian split of all has been that between East and West, between Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, a rift that is still apparent today. This book provides a balanced account of the emergence of divisions between Rome and Constantinople. Drawing on an encyclopaedic command of the literature, the book starts with the roots of the divergence in apostolic times and takes the story right up to the Council of Florence in the 15th century. The book is based on much experience as an ecumenist, which informs the discussion of Christians in relation to each other, to Jews, and to non-Christian Gentiles. The book shows a concern for the factors — theological, personal, political, and cultural — that caused division in the church and prevented reconciliation.Less

East and West: The Making of a Rift in the Church : From Apostolic Times until the Council of Florence

Henry Chadwick

Published in print: 2003-06-26

The greatest Christian split of all has been that between East and West, between Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, a rift that is still apparent today. This book provides a balanced account of the emergence of divisions between Rome and Constantinople. Drawing on an encyclopaedic command of the literature, the book starts with the roots of the divergence in apostolic times and takes the story right up to the Council of Florence in the 15th century. The book is based on much experience as an ecumenist, which informs the discussion of Christians in relation to each other, to Jews, and to non-Christian Gentiles. The book shows a concern for the factors — theological, personal, political, and cultural — that caused division in the church and prevented reconciliation.

Chapter Five argues that disputes over how to construct Jewish identity continued in the early Christian movement. The different forms of the Gentile mission, one which required that Gentiles undergo ...
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Chapter Five argues that disputes over how to construct Jewish identity continued in the early Christian movement. The different forms of the Gentile mission, one which required that Gentiles undergo circumcision and conversion to Judaism, and one which required Gentiles to live like godly Gentiles, depended upon two different conceptions of Jewish identity—one which was open to the possibility of conversion, and one which was not. The author of the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles believed that Jewish followers of Jesus should continue to observe the Jewish law, but that Gentile followers of Jesus could not become Jews. According to Luke, the God of Israel addressed the Gentile problem by purifying their suspect genealogy through the gift of the Holy Spirit.Less

Jews, Gentiles, and Circumcision in Early Christianity

Matthew Thiessen

Published in print: 2011-08-11

Chapter Five argues that disputes over how to construct Jewish identity continued in the early Christian movement. The different forms of the Gentile mission, one which required that Gentiles undergo circumcision and conversion to Judaism, and one which required Gentiles to live like godly Gentiles, depended upon two different conceptions of Jewish identity—one which was open to the possibility of conversion, and one which was not. The author of the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles believed that Jewish followers of Jesus should continue to observe the Jewish law, but that Gentile followers of Jesus could not become Jews. According to Luke, the God of Israel addressed the Gentile problem by purifying their suspect genealogy through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This book provides an overdue cultural translation of modern Italian intellectual and philosophical history, a development bookended by Giambattista Vico and Antonio Gramsci. It shows Italian ...
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This book provides an overdue cultural translation of modern Italian intellectual and philosophical history, a development bookended by Giambattista Vico and Antonio Gramsci. It shows Italian philosophy to have emerged during the age of the Risorgimento in reaction to eighteenth-century French revolutionary and rationalist standards in politics and philosophy and in critical assimilation of the German reaction to the same, mainly Hegelian idealism and, eventually, Heideggerian existentialism. Specifically, this is the story of modern Italian philosophy told through the lens of Renaissance scholarship. It introduces Anglo-American readers to Italian philosophy as it reflected a Renaissance precedent it wished to enliven, reactivate, and improve in support or criticism of nineteenth- and twentieth-century upheavals: unity (Risorgimento), empire (Fascism), and democracy (Republicanism). This Renaissance or humanist focus clarifies the Italian philosophical “difference” vis-à-vis the main strands of Continental philosophy (French, German, and their American elaborations), a “difference” that, perhaps to our advantage today, sheltered Italian inquiry from the self-confuting framework of the postmodern moment. By identifying the presence of Renaissance humanism in modern philosophical thought and in the scholarship of Bertrando Spaventa, Giovanni Gentile, Ernesto Grassi, Eugenio Garin, and Paul Oskar Kristeller, among others, The Italians' Renaissance recovers a tradition in Renaissance studies that runs parallel to, and separately from, the one initiated by Jacob Burckhardt's The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860). In so doing it calls for a renewed dialogue between students of philosophy and of the Renaissance, a dialogue that would prevent the study of the origins of modernity from turning into a form of antiquarianism.Less

The Other Renaissance : Italian Humanism between Hegel and Heidegger

Rocco Rubini

Published in print: 2014-12-08

This book provides an overdue cultural translation of modern Italian intellectual and philosophical history, a development bookended by Giambattista Vico and Antonio Gramsci. It shows Italian philosophy to have emerged during the age of the Risorgimento in reaction to eighteenth-century French revolutionary and rationalist standards in politics and philosophy and in critical assimilation of the German reaction to the same, mainly Hegelian idealism and, eventually, Heideggerian existentialism. Specifically, this is the story of modern Italian philosophy told through the lens of Renaissance scholarship. It introduces Anglo-American readers to Italian philosophy as it reflected a Renaissance precedent it wished to enliven, reactivate, and improve in support or criticism of nineteenth- and twentieth-century upheavals: unity (Risorgimento), empire (Fascism), and democracy (Republicanism). This Renaissance or humanist focus clarifies the Italian philosophical “difference” vis-à-vis the main strands of Continental philosophy (French, German, and their American elaborations), a “difference” that, perhaps to our advantage today, sheltered Italian inquiry from the self-confuting framework of the postmodern moment. By identifying the presence of Renaissance humanism in modern philosophical thought and in the scholarship of Bertrando Spaventa, Giovanni Gentile, Ernesto Grassi, Eugenio Garin, and Paul Oskar Kristeller, among others, The Italians' Renaissance recovers a tradition in Renaissance studies that runs parallel to, and separately from, the one initiated by Jacob Burckhardt's The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860). In so doing it calls for a renewed dialogue between students of philosophy and of the Renaissance, a dialogue that would prevent the study of the origins of modernity from turning into a form of antiquarianism.

One can make a case that of all the famous legends in rabbinic literature that have left a permanent imprint on Jewish consciousness and shaped Jewish identity, the aggada of the Gentile who comes ...
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One can make a case that of all the famous legends in rabbinic literature that have left a permanent imprint on Jewish consciousness and shaped Jewish identity, the aggada of the Gentile who comes before Shammai and Hillel demanding to be taught the entire Torah while standing on one foot (bShabbat 31a) has achieved a special place. Rebuffed by Shammai for his insolence, the potential convert is accepted by Hillel and instructed, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow—the rest go and study [gemar].” Much scholarship had been devoted to the negative formulation of the Golden Rule, but Hillel's negative answer is no more than a clever and witty reprisal to the potential convert's impudent request to sum-up the entire Torah. Hillel's rejoinder is not to ask of others what you yourself would not want to be asked, and to now go study in a proper fashion. No less fascinating, albeit less well known, is the anecdote about Hillel agreeing to summarize the entire Torah, which is the second of three stories of Gentiles approaching Shammai and Hillel. All the stories share the common element of a potential convert who stipulates the terms under which he is prepared to be converted. In the last of the three, the convert asks to be converted under the condition that he be made the high priest. This chapter addresses the first of these stories as it appears in the baraita in bShabbat 31a, and compares it with two other versions.Less

Teaching with Authority : A Comparative View

Marc Hirshman

Published in print: 2009-11-04

One can make a case that of all the famous legends in rabbinic literature that have left a permanent imprint on Jewish consciousness and shaped Jewish identity, the aggada of the Gentile who comes before Shammai and Hillel demanding to be taught the entire Torah while standing on one foot (bShabbat 31a) has achieved a special place. Rebuffed by Shammai for his insolence, the potential convert is accepted by Hillel and instructed, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow—the rest go and study [gemar].” Much scholarship had been devoted to the negative formulation of the Golden Rule, but Hillel's negative answer is no more than a clever and witty reprisal to the potential convert's impudent request to sum-up the entire Torah. Hillel's rejoinder is not to ask of others what you yourself would not want to be asked, and to now go study in a proper fashion. No less fascinating, albeit less well known, is the anecdote about Hillel agreeing to summarize the entire Torah, which is the second of three stories of Gentiles approaching Shammai and Hillel. All the stories share the common element of a potential convert who stipulates the terms under which he is prepared to be converted. In the last of the three, the convert asks to be converted under the condition that he be made the high priest. This chapter addresses the first of these stories as it appears in the baraita in bShabbat 31a, and compares it with two other versions.

Passing, an Americanism not cited in the first edition of the “Oxford English Dictionary,” may pertain to the crossing of any line that separated social groups. Everett Stonequist listed a great ...
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Passing, an Americanism not cited in the first edition of the “Oxford English Dictionary,” may pertain to the crossing of any line that separated social groups. Everett Stonequist listed a great variety of cases, including Jews passing for Gentiles, Polish immigrants preferring to be German, Italians pretending to be Jewish, the Japanese Eta hiding their group identity to avoid discrimination, the Anglo-Indians passing as British, and the Cape Coloured as well as mixed bloods in the Caribbean. One could add many other cases, such as Chinese Americans passing as Japanese Americans—and vice versa. There was also some passing from white to black in the United States, for example, by musicians, by white partners in interracial marriages, white siblings and other persons related by kinship to Afro-Americans, or by white individuals who wanted to earn affirmative action benefits.Less

Passing; or, Sacrificing a Parvenu

Werner Sollors

Published in print: 1997-10-02

Passing, an Americanism not cited in the first edition of the “Oxford English Dictionary,” may pertain to the crossing of any line that separated social groups. Everett Stonequist listed a great variety of cases, including Jews passing for Gentiles, Polish immigrants preferring to be German, Italians pretending to be Jewish, the Japanese Eta hiding their group identity to avoid discrimination, the Anglo-Indians passing as British, and the Cape Coloured as well as mixed bloods in the Caribbean. One could add many other cases, such as Chinese Americans passing as Japanese Americans—and vice versa. There was also some passing from white to black in the United States, for example, by musicians, by white partners in interracial marriages, white siblings and other persons related by kinship to Afro-Americans, or by white individuals who wanted to earn affirmative action benefits.

This book is a literary study of the uneasy position of the Jews in Germany and Austria from the first pleas for Jewish emancipation during the Enlightenment to the eve of the Holocaust. Trying to ...
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This book is a literary study of the uneasy position of the Jews in Germany and Austria from the first pleas for Jewish emancipation during the Enlightenment to the eve of the Holocaust. Trying to avoid hindsight and drawing on a wide range of literary texts, this book offers a close examination of attempts to construct a Jewish identity suitable for an increasingly secular world. It examines both literary portrayals of Jews by Gentile writers — whether antisemitic, friendly, or ambivalent — and efforts to reinvent Jewish identities by the Jews themselves, in response to antisemitism culminating in Zionism. The author deals with German-Jewish relations comprehensively and over a long period of literary history.Less

The ‘Jewish Question’ in German Literature 1749–1939 : Emancipation and its Discontents

Ritchie Robertson

Published in print: 2001-10-18

This book is a literary study of the uneasy position of the Jews in Germany and Austria from the first pleas for Jewish emancipation during the Enlightenment to the eve of the Holocaust. Trying to avoid hindsight and drawing on a wide range of literary texts, this book offers a close examination of attempts to construct a Jewish identity suitable for an increasingly secular world. It examines both literary portrayals of Jews by Gentile writers — whether antisemitic, friendly, or ambivalent — and efforts to reinvent Jewish identities by the Jews themselves, in response to antisemitism culminating in Zionism. The author deals with German-Jewish relations comprehensively and over a long period of literary history.

This is the first book-length study devoted to Una, the beleaguered but ultimately triumphant heroine of Book One of The Faerie Queene. Challenging the standard identification of Spenser’s Una with ...
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This is the first book-length study devoted to Una, the beleaguered but ultimately triumphant heroine of Book One of The Faerie Queene. Challenging the standard identification of Spenser’s Una with the post-Reformation Church in England, it argues that she stands, rather, for the community of the redeemed, the invisible Church, whose membership is known by God alone. Una’s story (its Tudor resonances notwithstanding) thus embraces that of the Synagogue before the Incarnation as well as that of the Church in the time of Christ and thereafter. Una’s trajectory also allegorizes the redemptive process that populates the City. Initially fallible, she undergoes a transformation that is explained by the appearance of the kingly lion as Christ in canto iii. Indeed, she becomes Christ-like herself. The tragically alienated figure of Abessa in canto iii represents, it is argued, Synagoga. The disarmingly feckless satyrs in canto vi are the Gentiles of the Apostolic era, and the unreliable yet indispensable dwarf is the embodiment of the adiaphora that define national (i. e., visible), Churches. The import of Spenser’s problematic marriage metaphor is clarified in the light of the Bible and medieval allegories. These individual interpretations contribute to a coherent account of what is shown to be, on Spenser’s part, a consistent treatment of his heroine.Less

God's only daughter : Spenser's Una as the invisible Church

Kathryn Walls

Published in print: 2013-11-30

This is the first book-length study devoted to Una, the beleaguered but ultimately triumphant heroine of Book One of The Faerie Queene. Challenging the standard identification of Spenser’s Una with the post-Reformation Church in England, it argues that she stands, rather, for the community of the redeemed, the invisible Church, whose membership is known by God alone. Una’s story (its Tudor resonances notwithstanding) thus embraces that of the Synagogue before the Incarnation as well as that of the Church in the time of Christ and thereafter. Una’s trajectory also allegorizes the redemptive process that populates the City. Initially fallible, she undergoes a transformation that is explained by the appearance of the kingly lion as Christ in canto iii. Indeed, she becomes Christ-like herself. The tragically alienated figure of Abessa in canto iii represents, it is argued, Synagoga. The disarmingly feckless satyrs in canto vi are the Gentiles of the Apostolic era, and the unreliable yet indispensable dwarf is the embodiment of the adiaphora that define national (i. e., visible), Churches. The import of Spenser’s problematic marriage metaphor is clarified in the light of the Bible and medieval allegories. These individual interpretations contribute to a coherent account of what is shown to be, on Spenser’s part, a consistent treatment of his heroine.

This afterword suggests some directions for future research. It argues that while scholarly and personal interest in the concept and practice of intermarriage has generated a substantial volume of ...
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This afterword suggests some directions for future research. It argues that while scholarly and personal interest in the concept and practice of intermarriage has generated a substantial volume of literature, much more work needs to be done in this field. To truly understand Jewish–Gentile marriage, an examination of the Gentiles involved in Jewish intermarriages would seem important in order to draw a two-sided historical picture. Specifically, what is needed are inquiries into non-Jewish women who married Jewish men; the intermarriage experiences of Gentile men; historical analyses of Jewish men who intermarried; and comparative analysis of the advice literature generated over the years on the issue of intermarriage.Less

Afterword

Keren R. McGinity

Published in print: 2009-02-01

This afterword suggests some directions for future research. It argues that while scholarly and personal interest in the concept and practice of intermarriage has generated a substantial volume of literature, much more work needs to be done in this field. To truly understand Jewish–Gentile marriage, an examination of the Gentiles involved in Jewish intermarriages would seem important in order to draw a two-sided historical picture. Specifically, what is needed are inquiries into non-Jewish women who married Jewish men; the intermarriage experiences of Gentile men; historical analyses of Jewish men who intermarried; and comparative analysis of the advice literature generated over the years on the issue of intermarriage.